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Friday, January 4, 2013

Shin splints plague the vast majority of athletes at some point in their career. And whether you're a weekend warrior or one of the elites, odds are, you'll experience them as well. This guide delves into the bio-mechanical aspects that inflict shin splints, and offers up effective solutions. If you can not find a cure within this book, odds are you do not have shin splints.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

If you don't know what a suicide is, it is an advanced conditioning exercise. I'll explain how to do it shortly. A lot of professional athletes use it to get in top notch shape. But after a while, just a basic suicide might become to easy. So here are some variations that will put you back on the track to victory. Prepare yourself for one hard workout.

The Basic Suicide

You can't do any variations if you don't know how to do the basic suicide. Start on a football field, if you can't use one, go to somewhere similar. Now beginning at the end of the end zone, sprint to the 10 yard line. Sprint back. Then sprint to the 20 yard line and back. Keep doing this for half, or all of the field depending on your level of conditioning.

5 Yard Suicide

This is just like the standard suicide, except longer and more challenging. Still starting at the end of the end zone, run to the 5 yard line and back. Then to the 10 yard line and back. Then to the 15 yard line and back. Keep doing this for half or all of the field.

Every Line

By far one of the most challenging variations. You start at the end of the end zone as always. Now run to every white line and back. For example, run from the end of the end zone to the beginning of the end zone and back. Then to the 5 yard line and back. 10 yard line and back. Keep going for the whole field.

Plyometric Suicides

This one is slightly difficult to explain. Using one of the variations above, add a quick set of plyometrics each time you reach the line. You can use any plyo you want, and make them harder as you get even better. Here is an example routine to explain it better.

Start at the end of the end zone

Sprint to the beginning of the end zone

Drop and do 10 push ups and 10 sit ups

Sprint back to the end of the end zone

Hopefully that gives you a better picture. As you get better, you can add more reps and difficult variations of the plyos.

Add these suicide variations into your conditioning workout and murder the competition.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

If you're not doing stairs, then you need to get with the program ASAP. Stairs have been around for a long time, so has running up and down them. It is very easy to do, and can be done almost anywhere. Although a stadium is preferable, since they have the most stairs. But most importantly, it gives you one heck of a workout. It will set your lungs on fire, torch your legs, and make you sweat a river. Get ready.

The Basics

Here is how to do basic stairs. Start at the bottom of the stairs. Run up them, moving your legs very quickly. If you are just starting, then you can skip steps if you need to, but don't get used to it. You'll need to up the intensity at some point. Too easy? Read on for more variations to really challenge your body.

Every Step

Now instead of skipping steps, make sure your foot touches every step. When you do this, go just as fast as if you skipped steps. This means you will have to run faster and harder.

Two Feet

For this variation, all you have to do is touch each step with both feet. This will probably take some practice and good coordination. Maintain a good speed.

One Foot Hop

This one is going to make your calves sore. Stay on one foot the entire way up, and hop on one foot. Touch each step. Use a railing if you need to. Make sure you do this for both legs.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

This one is self explanatory. Go up two steps, then go back one. Go up two, back one. You get the idea.

Throw these variations into your workout to really up the ante, and be at the top in no time.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Shin splints will absolutely ruin your running, and bring you to a painful, shattering stop. But instead of having to deal with all of this, why not just work your shins in the first place? Most people don't do this, and that is why they encounter shin splints in the first place. With some simple moves you can be pain free, and back on the trail in no time at all. Here is how to work your shins, avoid the splints.

Do Toe Raises

Stand on a bench or box with your toes hanging off of the edge of it. Your toes should be pointing toward the floor. Now raise your toes up as high as you can. Aim for parallel to the floor. Hold there for a few seconds. Do 5 or 6 more reps.

Stretch Your Shins

This may sound a little difficult, only because you probably haven't done it before. But rest assured, they aren't. Simply sit down on the floor or a mat. Point your toes as far forward as you can. Now reach toward your toes. Hold for 10 seconds, and repeat 3 more times. Easy.

A Few More Points...

-Make sure that you properly warm up your leg muscles before you workout. Do some slight jogging and proper stretching. Also make sure that you properly cool down. Do some very thorough stretching of your legs and focus on your shins.
-Another thing you might want to do is massage your shins. This will help break down the muscle, and make them more flexible.
-One more thing that you should definitely consider investing in if your an avid runner is The Stick. You roll it over your leg muscles, and it helps break them down, and remove waste build up. Truly wonderful for any type of runner.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Ok, well first of all, what is the serratus? The serratus anterior is a muscle that is in-between your abs and your armpit. It looks like fingers, if you can see yours, but most people don't have a low enough body fat percentage or enough muscle. In order to have healthy shoulders, you need to build this muscle. Also, once you can see it, you will look really ripped. Like I said, you need to build your serratus. Here's how.

Do one of these exercises before you begin your workout. Aim for 10-20 reps of each and you'll be on your way.

Dip-Shrug
It's what it sounds like it is. You do a dip, except with a shrug. Position yourself on two parallel bars, maintain a slight bend in your elbows, don't let your arms move, and lower your body so that it looks like your shrugging. Now rise as high as you can by spreading your shoulders.

Push Ups
Push ups have been around as long as exercise itself. Just doing a quick set of push ups will help build your serratus. Your can do military, shoulder width, or wide push ups, just to name a few.

Barbell Press
For this it is best if you use a power rack or squat rack. Lift the barbell off the rack and raise it over your head. Lower it back down to your collarbone, but don't let it touch.

Scap Pushup
Get into push up position, and lower your body so it is down between your shoulders. Keep your abs tight. Spread your shoulders to rise back up.

Front Bridges
Lie down on the floor or a mat, with your forearms, pelvis, and legs touching it. Now use your abs, glutes, and serratus to raise your self into a bridge position. Hold for 10-20 seconds.

Dumbbell Pullover
Start by lying down on a flat bench. Make sure your head is close to the end of the bench. Hold on to the dumbbell by one end of it, where the weight is. With your hands around the bottom of the plate. Lower the dumbbell so that your forearms almost go parallel to the floor. Raise the weight back up. Do 6-12 reps of these.

There you have it, you are on your way to healthy shoulders, and a very ripped body.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Most guys are in the gym to pack on at least some size, no matter it be 5 or 50 pounds. They're there for something. But for a lot of people this can be a hard goal to achieve. So they look to supplements to help them get there faster and easier. But with the hundreds of brands available on the market, it's hard to tell which ones work. Here is a list of my personal favorite, top 5 mass gaining supplements. Get ready to get jacked!

This is my personal favorite, and it packs a heck of a punch when it comes to laying on muscle. Each serving has: 650 healthy calories, 60 grams of protein, and 85 grams of carbs. It has 7 different types of protein, including whey, casein, and egg. It is pretty easy to mix, and tastes great. Definitely the best for hard gainers, or people looking to make gains fast.

The name of it says it all, use this product if you want to gain some serious mass. Like the Pro Complex Gainer, this one also packs a nice punch. Each serving has 1250 calories, 50 grams of protein, and 250 grams of carbs. This is only for people who are serious about gaining mass.

Monster Milk is one of the best mass gaining supplements out there. And for a good reason, it works. Each serving has: 350 calories and 50 grams of fast and slow protein, to make sure your body gets a continuous supply. So you can really build some muscle.

BSN is another well known supplement company, and has been around for a while. That's why True Mass is on the list. Each serving has 626 calories and 46 grams of protein to make sure you get the most out of your workout.

5.) Universal Nutrition Real GainsUniversal Nutrition Real Gains Chocolate 10.6 Lbs
Last, but of course not least, Real Gains. If that's what you're looking for, then this is definitely for you. Each serving has: 610 calories, 87 grams of carbs, and 52 grams of protein to feed your muscles and help get you big.

So if you want to build the body of your dreams, but just can't quite seem to build enough muscle, or any at all. Then you should definitely give one or more of these a try. You also might want to cycle them so you continue to see constant gains.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Right now you're probably thinking, "What the heck is a burpee?" If you already do know, then you will also know that it is an excellent conditioning exercise. It engages a lot of your muscles from many of your muscle groups, making it very beneficial to your overall routine. Here is how to do the burpee.

Step 1:
Start by standing in an upright position.

Step 2:
Quickly crouch down and touch the ground with your hands.

Step 3:
Immediately after step 2, thrust your legs back so that you are in a push up position. Do not let your body touch the ground.

Step 4:
Keep your hands on the ground. Now bring your knees forward so that you are in a crouching position again.

Step 5:
Jump up in the air as high as you can with your arms raised up.

Make sure you have enough clearance for the jumping part of the exercise. Maintain good form throughout the exercise.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

The bench press is the king of exercises, along side with the deadlift and squat. The bench press builds your chest, triceps, and front delts. Benching is great for muscle building, strength building, and endurance training for these muscle groups. And since the most popular question in the gym is, "Whaddaya bench"? Who doesn't want to have an answer like, 300? This article will tell you how to add up to 50 pounds to your bench in a month. To the bar!

Max-OT Training

The first thing that you are going to need to do, to rack up those numbers, is Max-OT training. What this means is, you do lesser reps with very heavy weights. Lifting at 80 to 90 percent of your 1 RM. This will apply the most stress to your muscles, and cause them to grow and get stronger faster.

Isolate

True, compound exercises are the best to build the most muscle the fastest. But if you are looking to add 50 pounds to your bench, you're going to have to do some isolation exercises. The areas you will have to isolate are: front and middle delts, all heads of the triceps, upper chest, lower chest, and back. Here is a quick possible exercise list

Focus on all of the supporting groups for the chest, and you will surely increase your bench drastically in no time at all.

Get Enough Rest

If you don't give your muscles the time to recover, so they can get stronger and bigger, then your workout will be wasted. This will prevent you from ever seeing any gains, and could actually decrease muscle and strength. Take at least 3 days off in between working out your chest, preferably 5. Since you are lifting so heavy, and with such a high percentage of your max.

Dynamic Lifting

Another thing that you might want to try is doing some dynamic lifting. This focuses on the explosion portion of the rep. Which in this case is lifting the bar off of your chest. To do dynamic lifting, choose a weight that is 30 to 50 percent of your max to start, you can work your way up. Lower it to your chest, and then explode it off as fast and with as much power as you can. Start with 3 sets of 6. Increase as you get better.

Follow these tips, and you will be sure to impress some people with your numbers.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Go ahead and go to your bathroom and flex in the mirror. Is that peak looking like Mt. Everest, or Death Valley? Death Valley, I thought so, but not to worry, there is hope. Your bicep has more than one part to it. There is the short head, which is the inner part of your bicep, and not noticed as much. Then there is the long head, which is responsible for the peak when you flex. Lastly there is an underlying muscle called the Brachii, which can not be seen. In order to get fully developed biceps, you need to hit all three parts, not just one. To do this, you will need to update your bicep workout, and stop doing endless curls. Cause that's obviously not getting you anywhere, is it? Here's how to build your biceps, from every angle.

Exercises To Add To Your Workout

Wide Grip Barbell Curl
Hold onto a barbell with a wider than shoulder width grip. Curl the weight upward, and get it close to your chest. Don't swing the weight up, and don't use momentum. Slowly lower it back down.

Close Grip Barbell Curl
Hold onto a barbell with your hands about 6 inches apart. Curl the weight upward, and get it close to your chest. Don't swing the weight up, and don't use momentum. Slowly lower it back down.

Hammer Curl
Pick up two dumbbells, and hold them by your side, with your palms facing inward, toward your thighs. Curl the weight upward, and get it close to your shoulders. Don't do it too fast, or you will hit your shoulders. Hold for a moment, and slowly lower it back down. The whole motion should look like you are holding a hammer, and hitting it.

Cross Body Hammer Curl
Perform like the hammer curl. Except at the top of the movement, try and touch the dumbbell to your opposite shoulder.

Pull Up
Grab onto a bar with a shoulder width-overhand grip. Pull yourself up so that your chin is above the bar. Lower yourself back down. (If you can not complete a full rep with perfect form, do a flex arm hang)

Chin Up
Grab onto a bar with a shoulder width-underhand grip. Pull yourself up so that your chin touches the bar. Lower yourself back down. (If you can not complete a full rep with perfect form, do a flex arm hang)

Flex Arm Hang (Beginners Only)
Grab onto a bar with either an overhand or underhand shoulder width grip. Jump up so that you are at the top of the movement. Hold yourself there for as long as you can.

Integrate these into your bicep plan, and you'll be seeing results in no time. And so will the ladies.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

This is just a simple guide that tells you how to perform the exercise called a push press. It is quite similar to a overhead press, it just has a little different form, and more explosion. It works the shoulder and back, but it also gets the quads involved as well. Here's how to do the push press.

Step A:
Start by holding a barbell with a slightly wider shoulder-width grip, and rest it on your chest.